A Valueble Friendship
by Neon Leprechaun
Summary: DONE! Compleate!FINISHED! When Harry Potter builds a friendship with Severus Snape, he never dreams what he will get out of it. HPTMR Warnings: slash and mild language and CHARACTER DEATH
1. Chapter 1

Rating: PG, but that may change. Won't get higher than PG-13 though.

Pairing: HP/TMR, DT/SF RW/NL

Disclamer: I, in no way, shape, or form, own any part of Harry Potter. He and all related characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction. Enjoy!

* * *

Severus Snape stalked into the potions classroom, where the first class of the year was sitting. It included those from his own house, all with smirks plastered firmly to their faces', a group of scared but determined Gryffindors, and one very bored looking Harry Potter. He scanned them quickly before announcing the potion they would be making that day, a sobering potion; a quick flick of his wand reveling the instructions on the board.

"Ingredients are in the cupboard. Begin!" he barked.

The students moved quickly to begin their own potions as Snape sat down at his desk with a steaming cup of coffee. He again looked around the room if moving teenagers, and received a surprise. Harry Potter had not moved. He had his head down on his desk, and appeared to be sleeping. _Well, this could be interesting, _Snape muttered to himself. Going over to his bookcase packed with many different potion books, Snape selected the biggest and thickest book he could find and strode over to the sleeping boy. Once at least half of the room was watching him and all was quiet, Snape dropped the book on the desk, right next to sleeping Harry's head. Harry jerked awake to a room full of laughing students and a smirking Professor Snape.

"Pathetic, Potter. Really pathetic. It is only the first class of the year, and you have already deemed it too boring to waste your precious time on. Now, your other teachers may not mind their little golden boy catching up on some _much_ needed sleep and bend yet another rule, but I shall not. So, how shall I deal with this? Does anyone have a guess?" Here Snape looked around at the shell-shocked room. He was really beginning to enjoy taunting the emerald-eyed teen. "Well then, I shall tell you. Detention. Every night this week. And if I ever catch you sleeping in my class again, it will be every night for a month _and_ no Hogsmeade weekends, Everyone back to work. Now!" Snape ordered, then, in a much lower and more dangerous voice spoke to Harry. "I suggest you get busy Mr. Potter."

The rest of the lesson was fairly uneventful, unless you counted Longbottom doing everything possible wrong, and then having know-it-all Granger saving him again. As Snape watched potter storm from the room at the bell with his friends hurrying after him, he thought to himself, _This is going to be a _v_ery interesting year.

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_

A/N: Well? I know it's short, but it was just the intro. The other chapters should be longer. Also, I have the next one and half of the third already written, so they should be up soon.

Please review and tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Rating: PG-13 for language

Warnings: OOC, Slash!

Disclamer: All I got right now is this box of one dozen starving, crazed weasles...

**A/N:** OK then, well, here is the 2nd chapter! Thanks to Mademoiselle Obvious for betaing this one and the last one too. Also, the disclamer is fromthe song Albuquerque by Weird Al Yankovic. Go Weird Al! And now, on to the story!

* * *

Harry Potter stormed from the room as soon as he heard the bell, only slightly aware of Ron and Hermione following him. Why did that man have to make his life so miserable? It wasn't as if he had meant to fall asleep. Blame Voldemort. He was the one who kept Harry up all night with nightmares. "Harry! Wait up! Stop walking so bloody _fast!_ Harry came back to reality at his friends' callings, only to notice all of the candles around him flickering uncontrollably. He took a deep breath and forced himself to slow down a bit so that his friends could catch up. Once they had, Harry was a bit calmer.

"Sorry you guys. I was just thinking of ways to torture the Greasy Git."

He grinned as Hermione gave him a disapproving look and Ron immediately asked if he could help and began reeling off various methods of torture. When he got to hanging Snape by his feet over a great boiling caldron in the Great Hall naked, not even Hermione could keep a straight face and began to laugh helplessly, joining Harry who had fallen to the ground a few minutes previous.

"Thanks, Ron. I feel a lot better now."

Now laughing at the confused look on the red-head's face, the trio headed off down the hall towards Transfiguration.

* * *

That night at a quarter to 8, Harry bid good-bye to Ron and Hermione and headed down towards the dungeons for his detention with, Harry gave an involuntary shudder, Snape. _How is it,_ Harry mused, _that I can say Voldemort's name so easily when it scares the crap out of most of the wizarding world, but detention with Snape gives me the creeps?_ As Harry continued his leisure pace down the halls of Hogwarts, he glanced at his watch. It read 5 past 8. _Shit! I'm late!_ And with that he bolted towards the dungeons.

* * *

_Where is that wretched boy? _Snape, having just finished trashing the potions classroom, was sitting at his desk watching the clock on the wall (the only things in the room still intact). It was now 10 past 8, and Potter's detention had started 10 min. ago. Just then the boy in question burst into the room, panting and sweaty from his run down to the dungeons. 

"You're late, Mr. Potter."

"I know, sir. Very sorry, sir." Harry managed in-between gasps for air.

After giving Harry a long hard glare, Snape turned to face the trashed room.

"Your task, Potter, is to clean up this awful mess. _Without_ magic." Harry turned to stare at Snape with a gob smacked look on his face. "Well, Mr. Potter, I suggest that you get busy." Once the boy had turned and began righting some of the desk's, Snape sat back down at his desk with a fresh cup of coffee and a stack of papers to grade, smirking at how much anger and frustration he knew he was causing the teen in front of him.

_How could he! I suppose I should have expected this, him being a get and all, _Harry said to himself as he began straightening the desks and righting the overturned chairs. After about 30 min of working in silence, Harry gathered up his Gryffindor courage and broke the silence. "I'm sorry for falling asleep in class, sir. You see-" Harry began, but was immediately cut off by an annoyed Snape.

"I don't want your pathetic excuses, boy. The fact is that you did, and now you-"

"You see, sir, Voldemort kept me up all night with visions of his most recent raid." Harry began again, almost yelling to be heard over the scolding Potions Master. "You may be used to the killing and raids and all the other evil and disturbing stuff that he does, with you being a spy and all, but as I am only 17, I do not wish to dream about all the gore and mindless killing of innocent muggles and wizards, and therefore stayed awake all night reading. So, if you'll forgive me for trying to catch up on some much needed sleep, I'm sure this could all be a lot easier. We will have to work together once I am out of school, whether we like it or not. The Order will force us to, and it will probably be less stressful if we can do so peacefully."

Snape stared dumbstruck at the teen, who was watching him intently with questioning eyes, before quickly regaining his composure.

"Well, I suppose that you are right about the working together thing, but I can not stop hating you just like that."

"Now that you mention it, why do you hate me?"

"I hate you because your father took advantage of me and bullied me while at school. Then, to top it all off, he went and had you, you who looks just like him and are treated special when you are nothing but a spoilt brat who gets away with far too much rule breaking."

"I am not my father, no matter how much I look like him, Professor."

"Well, I suppose that too, is true. Fine, we will talk a bit during your week of detentions and see if we can't clear the air a bit."

"Thank you, sir. That is all I can ask for. I should get back to this if I want to be out of here by midnight" Harry once again turned to get back to cleaning up the classroom.

"Oh, all right. You can use magic." A relieved smile broke out on Harry's face. Thank you so much, sir." And with that he cleaned up the room in about five min., thanked the odd professor once more, and headed up to Gryffindor tower for, hopefully, a good nights rest.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, 986 words! Go me! Well, the rest of the chapters should be about this length or longer. The first two I had already written on paper, and you know how stuff looks longer when written than typed... 

Also, it may take me a bit longer to update since I don't already have the next one written. I do, however, know what is going to happen.

And finally, thank you so much to all 8 of my reviewers! You have no idea how great it was to come home and see that I already had reviews! So, if you wanna make me happier, drop me a review, and I will try to have the next one out soon!


	3. Chapter 3

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: OOC (poor snape), mild swearing, AU due to HBP, oh, and mention of 4some XD

Disclamer: You know, Snape looks kinda nice with a tie on...

**A/N**: Okay, I tried to have this out last night, i really really did, but FF was _not_ cooperating and i needed to rewrite a line or two. However, here it is. Enjoy!

* * *

"So what's it like being a spy?" Harry began after a few uncomfortable minutes of awkward silence. He had walked into the dungeons for detention promptly at 8'o clock and sat down in the chair in front of Snape's desk. Only upon hearing the question asked did Snape finally look up at Harry and fixed the Boy-Who-Lived with one of his patented death glares. Green eyes met cool slate. "Fine, you come up with something to talk about!" 

"Just because we are trying to clear the air, it does not give you permission to treat me so informally. I am still your professor and shall be treated like it. Understood?" At Harry's nod, he continued. "As for conversation, how is your final year at Hogwarts going?"

"Well, let's see. I have an essay to do for your class, an essay for Binns, an essay Sinistra, and looking up counter jinxes for defense. Plus, Voldemort is continuing to give me nightmares, no matter how much Occlumency I do. How do you _think _it's going, sir."

"Well, I can't help you with the dreams of homework for other classes, but if you get out some parchment I suppose I could aid you in avoiding a fail on your next essay."

"Is it possible that you could help me with some of the more complicated potions tomorrow, sir? It's not that I am truly bad at potions, it's that I can't concentrate when Slytherins are mocking me and insane Dark Lords are attacking my head with mood flashes."

"It's possible,"

"Please, sir?"

"Don't push it."

* * *

The rest of the week's detentions passed creating a less hate-full relationship between Professor and student. Around the 4th week of term, Harry received a very nasty surprise. He had spent most of the evening in the library with Hermione and Ginny, having lost track of Ron after dinner. Around 11:30 Madame Pince finally kicked the three of them out. After saying goodnight to the girls, Harry slowly climbed the stairs to the dorm, exhausted and looking forward to his nice comfortable bed. Not paying much attention, Harry walked towards his destination when all of a sudden, he heard 4 simultaneous moans. He spun around quickly, wand out incase of danger, then immediately wished he hadn't. In front of him were Seamus, Dean, Neville, and Ron, all with their… attention fixed on a subject other than Harry. Ron was the first to notice Harry standing there in a mixture of shock and horror. 

"Uh, sorry mate. We didn't realize you would be back so soon. Would it be too much to ask for you to sleep in the common room tonight?"

"Not at all"

And with that Harry quickly grabbed his invisibility cloak and the faithful marauders map before sprinting towards the exit, thanking the Headmaster for his bed being closest to the door. Once in the common room, Harry realized he needed to get farther away as he could still hear moans issuing from the group upstairs. His first choice would to have gone to Dumbledore to see if he could stay there, but as the Headmaster had just returned that day from a week long mystery trip, Harry did not wish to disturb the old man. So, the only other option that he could think of was to go see if he could share a room with Snape. Harry quickly threw on the cloak and hurried out the portrait hole. Once Harry had once again straightened up he realized that he didn't know where Snape's rooms were. Also, he seemed to have put a charm on the room that caused it to become Unplotable because it was nowhere on the map. _Damn. Now what do I do? I know! Dobby will know where Snape's rooms are. I'll go see him and see if I can't pick up some free food while I'm there._ And with that Harry headed down towards the painting of the fruit so that he could go see everyone's favorite house-elf.

* * *

"Hello? Dobby? Is anyone here?" Harry Potter entered the kitchen to find it empty except for a few lumps in the corner by the fireplace that held only coals. Harry was about to leave when one of the lumps moved. Harry quickly drew is wand before cautiously heading over towards the now moving lumps. Once he was about 3ft away he picked up a potato, which was sitting on the shelf he was standing, next to and threw it at the moving lump. The lump quickly turned around once the potato hit to reveal a creature with bat like ears. "Dobby? Is that you?" 

"Harry /hic/ Potter sir! How /hic/ great it is hic to see you again!" Exclaimed the surprised house-elf as he rubbed his head where the potato had hit him. He then turned and sank into a low bow at Harry's feet.

Harry just stared at the elf. _Okay then. Dobby is talking funny. Why?_ It was as Dobby was bowing that Harry noticed the half-empty bottle in his right hand. "What is that Dobby? What do you have in your hand?"

"Tis Firewhisky, Harry Potter! My /hic/ 12th one tonight!"

Harry stared dumbfounded at him. _His _12th_ Firewhisky? In one night? No wonder he was acting so strange._ Deciding to ignore that his friend was drunk, Harry asked what he had come here to find out.

"Dobby, do you know where Snape's rooms are?" The elf immediately began to nod very quickly. "Great! Can you take me there? I need to talk to him." At his request, Dobby immediately ran towards the exit yelling behind him, "Follow me, Harry /hic/ Potter!"

* * *

About 20 min. later, and after traveling in many circles, they finally arrived outside of a portrait of a small black snake curled up on a rock. Dobby quickly said his override password and the frame swung open to reveal the potions master asleep in a chair in front of the now dying fire with a book on his lap. 

"There Harry /hic/ Potter! There sleeps the Greasy Git!"

It was with this exclamation that said Greasy Git woke up to see an amused Harry Potter and drunken house-elf staring at him.

"….What the? Why are you in here? How did you even get in my rooms?" Snape demanded of Harry, who just pointed meekly to Dobby, who was now bouncing happily in little circles. After watching the deranged elf continue his "happy dance", Snape quickly summoned a large bag of potatoes from thin air and dropped it on Dobby's head, who quickly became unconscious and dropped to the floor. "Well, now that that's taken care off, let me ask again, why are you in my rooms?" As Harry tried to decide on an answer that wouldn't get him killed, the professor began to get impatient. "Come now, Harry. I won't kill you, I just want to know." Felling a bit safer, Harry began his reply.

"Well, sir, I was kind of hoping I could stay here tonight."

"And what, may I ask, is wrong with your own room?"

"Well, I kind of walked in on Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus." When he noticed the older man's confused look, he continued. "They were, um… you see, the four of them, uh…" Harry broke off to laugh, because the look that had appeared on his new-found friend's face was completely un-Slytherin and something to laugh at to say the least. It seemed that Snape had just comprehended what the Boy-Who-Lived was trying to say.

"You can stop right there, Mr. Potter. I believe I completely understand your problem. Yes, you may stay the night here, but I'm afraid that you will have to sleep on the couch."

"That is perfectly fine by me, sir. As long as it is away from those four, I am happy and very grateful."

"Well then, I suggest you best get some sleep then. My, uh, _offer,_ still stands if you fall asleep in my class again, and I do believe that you have potions first tomorrow." Snape warned the teen as he fixed him with a somewhat intense patented Snape Glare."

"Oh don't worry, Sir, I'm going to sleep right now." Harry didn't quite succeed in keeping all of the sarcasm out of his voice.

"You know what I meant. Goodnight, Potter."

"Goodnight….Severus. Sweet dreams."

* * *

**A/N**: Once again, I apologize for takeing awhile to update this. Unfortunatly, that is probably how long it will take me to get the next one out too. At least it's longer than the other two, right? 

Also, I know that the summery says that this is a Harry/Tom. Thats what I would like it to be also, but the story doesn't seem to want to go there. So, sorry to all you fans of Harry/Tom, but this may become a Snarry. I will know for sure after the next chapter. Sorry for any incovince.

And finally, reviews! No one has really asked me any questions or said they need anything explained, so I would just like to say a general thanks to all who did review. In addition, the more reviews I get, the soonerI will get the next chapter out. So, lots of reviews means a longer chapter sooner!

One last note: Toh0tNo0del (),whoever you are, you are one straaange person. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclamer: Have you ever noticed how your hair looks perfect right before you go to sleep when no one is going to see you?

xxxXXxxx time jump or pov.change.

**A/N:** Okay, well, this was finished about...4days ago? but my beta just got it back to me tonight. So, the majority of the reviews asked to keep it a Tom/Harry, but wouldn't mind a Snarry. To find out what it is, you'll have to read on! ButI gaurentee you will know by the end of this chapter. If you don't, then you are an idiot...

xxxXXxxx

Around 2'o clock in the morning Harry woke to his scar throbbing painfully. He let out a gasp of pain as he sat up quickly and reached for his wand. After groping around in the darkness for a bit he finally found it and muttered _lumos_. By the light that his wand produced, Harry was able to locate his glasses. As he put his glasses on he saw Snape hurrying from what was probably either the bathroom or bedroom, quickly pulling a long hooded black robe on.

"Arg, my scar hurts! What's wrong, Sir, where are you going?"

"Oh, you're awake. Well, the Dark Lord has just called a meeting. That is where I am going, and that is also possibly why your scar hurts. I suggest that you put your invisibility cloak on and go back up to your dorm before you are missed."

"But…but..." Harry shuddered at the memories "Can't I come with you?"

"I'm not sure that's a wise idea. He will kill you on sight as soon as he knows you are there, which would be as soon as you arrive. He's put up wards so that only those carrying the Dark Mark can enter. I'm sorry, but there's just no way."

"Okay, okay, I won't try and follow. Can I at least stay here? Please?"

"Alright, fine. I'm only allowing this because I don't have time to argue with you."

Snape disapparated immediately after his words, and, considering them to be a sufficient good-bye, left a disappointed Harry behind. Realizing that he nothing better to do, Harry rolled over and went back to sleep.

xxxXXxxx

A few more months passed quickly by, bringing in more homework for the 7th years, colder weather, and the Halloween Ball that would be that evening. Everyone was really excited at the prospect of getting dressed up to become whatever they wished. It was a masquerade/costume party, so people had gone to purchase costumes and masks on the Hogsmeade visit that afternoon. Among the students who had gone to the village were Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They all had picked out some interesting costumes and masks and were heading back to the school. As they entered the castle they could smell the pumpkins being carved and marveled at how much everything was being decorated before heading up to the dorms to get changed.

At quarter to 8 that night, almost the entire school was lined up outside the Great Hall waiting for the ball to start. No one noticed the tall, raven-haired teen talking with Malfoy and the other Slytherins. No one, that is, except for Hermione.

"Harry, hey, Harry."

"Yeah, Hermione? What is it?"

"Do you see that guy over there? The one talking to Malfoy?"

"Yeah…what about him?"

"Don't you think he looks a bit like you?"

"Well, I don't know about that, but he is bloody gorgeous!"

Hermione was about to agree when the clock struck 8 and the doors of the Great Hall began to swing open.

xxxXXxxx

"Did you see that new guy?"

"Who is he?"

"Does anyone know what his name is?"

It was all anybody and everybody was talking about. That new guy with the sleek build and combed back black hair. All the girls wanted to dance with him, and all the guys wanted to me his mate. It was soon known, however, that he was indeed a Slytherin. This caused a majority of the members of Gryffindor house to be sitting in a corner, glaring at the new guy.

"I can't believe they all like him" Muttered Hermione. "I mean, I know that he's hot and all, but that doesn't mean that they should all go suck up to him like that."

"I totally agree. Where did he come from, anyway? I thought you had to attend Hogwarts to be let in." Responded Ron. "What do you think Harry?"

"I think that it might be a good idea to find out who he is and what he is doing here. In fact, I think I'll do just that" He vaguely heard Ron and Hermione calling his name to come back, but decided to ignore them and to continue walking in a very determined way towards the group of people around the boy in question.

xxxXXxxx

As he looked up, he saw the teen he had been watching get up and begin to walk away from the other people he had been sitting with. Presumably they were his friends, but he wasn't sure. _Dang. I'll bet that he'll move out of my view now. _It was proving to be very difficult to watch someone without appearing to, especially when one is surrounded by people asking one questions. He watched as the boy began to move just out of his site before heading straight towards him. As he got closer it became evident that he had bright green eyes and messy black hair that stuck straight up. As the boy walked closer it also became evident that he was set on talking to him. _Is he looking at me? Well, I suppose I am making a bit of a scene here. I wonder what he wants?_

"Excuse me, but I would like a word, please." Asked the green-eyed boy.

"Sure thing. Excuse me ladies, I'll be back in a moment" Answered the new guy as he began to follow Harry towards the food table.

"So who are you anyway? I know you don't go here, or I would have seen you before. What's your name?"

"The name's Tom. No, I don't go here, but I'm a friend of Draco's, and he invited me."

"Did I hear you correctly? Your name's Tom?"

Yes…do you have a problem with that?" Blood red eyes that had previously thought to be enchanted flashed dangerously."

"No, not at all. Are you home schooled?"

"As a mater of fact, I am. Families with a lot of money sometimes do that. Say, instead of standing here looking like idiots, would you like to dance?"

At this Harry hesitated at that. Should he trust this new guy who reminds him an awful lot of Tom Riddle? _Why not. He's been nothing but nice to me so far. I'm glad my scar is hidden tonight though._

"Sure, I like this song." They took up their stance and began to dance. It was tentative and sloppy at first; neither was sure who should lead. Tom finally decided that he was a better leader than a follower and began to take Harry on a wild ride across the dance floor.

xxxXXxxx

"So much for 'finding out' who he was" muttered Ron to Hermione. "Think we should go interfere?"

"No, defiantly not. I haven't seen Harry smile like that in such a long time. He probably doesn't realize it yet, but he fancy's that new guy, and I can't say I blame him. Let's try and make it the best for him."

"Okay…and how do we do that?"

"Well, we can start by heading off that angry mob of girls headed straight for them."

"Good idea. Let's go."

"Those are some nice friends you've got there"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. They're life savers."

"You don't seem as if you are completely here. Are you okay?

Harry blushed. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a little warm."

"Oh, well, would you like to go outside?" At Harry's nod Tom began to steer them towards the doors that led outside. Once the music had faded to just a dull sound in the background, they dropped their arms and began to walk along a random path in a comfortable silence before coming to a bench and sitting down.

"Wow. This place is really beautiful. I'd forgotten that." Muttered Tom.

"Hmm? I didn't catch that last part."

"Oh, nothing." Tom towards Harry to find emerald eyes fixed intently on him. "Uh… what are you looking at?"

"Your eyes. I've only seen eyes like that once and I was trying to think of a spell that would… uh would allow you to do uh… that." Harry began to falter as he suddenly noticed how close Tom was.

"Maybe I'll tell you sometime." Tom murmured before closing the distance between Harry and himself with a tentative and soft kiss. After a moment's hesitation, Harry began to kiss him back before quickly pulling away with a muttered curse.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's _wrong?_ What's wrong is that you, Tom Marvolo Riddle, are kissing me before you even know my name." Spat Harry.

"Tom gaped at that boy. "How did you figure out who I was? And what does it matter what your name is? 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet', right? And its not like you're Harry Pot…shit." For at that moment it all clicked. Who else had those great green eyes with spiked black hair? Who else had had his blood red eyes bore into him less than 2 years ago so that they could never forget them? And as these revelations rushed through his head, Harry tapped his forehead with his wand so that the famous lightning-bolt shaped scar that Tom himself had placed there ezachtly 16 years previously came in to view. Oh shit was right.

xxxXXxxx

**A/N: **Well? What'd you think? That was the first time I've tried to write a kissing scene. Was it okay? Also, we're studing Shakespear in English at school, so thats where the Romeo and Juliet quote came from.

Reviews- your people are COOL! Lots of reviews make me happy, so keep it up!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I got a new hat! Yay me! Ski slopes, here I come!

Warnings: Swearing, and I think that is actaully it this chapter.

**A/N:** I meant for this to be longer, I really did, but Harry and Tom weren't really coperating much.

xxxXXxxx

Harry spun on his heels and began a brisk walk towards the doors that led back inside.

"Harry, wait!" Tom called. "Let me talk! Please? I'll do anything! I'll hand over my wand!" It was his final attempt, and it worked. At his last plea, Harry stilled and turned around to look at Tom. "Please. Just talk. Here's my wand."

"Why are you doing this? I'm your worst enemy, and you're handing me your wand. You'll be defenseless."

"I know. Please come and sit down."

"Alright, alright, gosh. What do you want Riddle? I don't trust you."

"I know you don't."

"Then why am I sitting here?"

"Because you're hot and I'm horny?"

As the look of disgust slid over Harry's face Tom knew he had gone too far. Harry abruptly stood up and began to almost sprint towards the doors. About halfway there he turned around and chucked Tom's wand back towards him before continuing his run towards the castle. Once there he ran right pass the party and went straight up to Gryffindor tower, leaving a stunned, confused, and hurt Tom Riddle still sitting on the bench outside.

xxxXXxxx

_That jerk! How could he? What am I saying; He's _Voldemort_, of course he could._ As Harry ran through the doors, he could hear the sounds of a party coming from the great hall. However, he decided after what had just happened he really didn't feel like returning to the party and just began to climb the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower, and bed.

xxxXXxxx

"I wonder what happened to Harry and that new guy." Said Hermione as she and Ron climbed the stairs shortly after midnight and the end of the party.

"No idea. Last I saw they were headed outside. Maybe it's better that we don't know where they are." Ron replied with a wink.

"Arg, is sex all guys ever think about?"

"Pretty much!" Answered Ron with mock seriousness that only lasted until Hermione playfully pushed him into a wall. "Okay, okay, I was kidding. But the fact still remains…"

Hermione rolled her eyes good naturedly before heading up the stairs to the girls' dorms (they had entered the common room moments before). Ron covered a yawn with his hand before heading up the stairs to his own room. He was already beginning to undress when he heard a sob come from one of the beds. After a closer look, it became apparent that it was from Harry's bed.

xxxXXxxx

Once in the dorm and completely alone, Harry finally let himself think about what had happened that evening. Even though he knew it had only been one kiss, and that it was Voldemort of all people, he still couldn't push away the hurt that those final words had caused. _I thought he may have actually cared! I mean, after all that flirting! And he was so sweet, and so handsome! This is so stupid for me to feel this way. Maybe I'll just go to sleep and try to forget about it. Things will be better in the morning. _By this point Harry had changed into pajamas and was climbing into bed. He rolled over and shut his eyes to go to sleep, only to have them fly open again. _Dammit! Why me?_ He rolled over onto his back and tried to go to sleep again, but just as before, the moment he shut his eyes he could see Tom's face and feel his kiss. That one little tender kiss that had done so much to him. It had sent shivers up his spine and made his lips tingle as if the contact had sent a million little electric shocks going through them. _Damn him. I'm in for a long night_. Harry rolled over one more time before he just let himself cry. He was still crying when Ron came in an hour later.

xxxXXxxx

"Harry? Harry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Ron." Harry tried to hold in his sobs as he turned so that he was facing away from Ron.

"Are you sure?"

"I _said_ I'm fine." It didn't have quite the force he had intended. It was hard to sound sure of anything when one's voice keeps cracking. He was concentrating so intently on keeping his sobs in that he didn't hear Ron come over and sit down next to him.

"You don't have to tell me what's wrong or what happened if you don't want to, but at least let me try and comfort you." After a moments hesitation Ron suddenly found his arms full of a sobbing Harry.

xxxXXxxx

Ron looked over at Harry's bed one more time before sliding into his own to think about what had just happened. After a little while of whispering comforting words in his ears and stroking his back, Harry's cries became less and less frequent until he finally fell asleep. _What has gotten him so upset? I guess I'll mention this to Hermione tomorrow and see if she has any ideas._

xxxXXxxx

"And when you asked him what was wrong he refused to tell you?"

"Yes, I already told you that. When I walked in he was already on the break of tears and me asking pushed him over the edge. He cried for a while before he finally wore himself out and fell asleep."

The next morning found Ron filling in Hermione on what had happened the night before after they had separated. Across the table sat a miserable and tired Harry trying to shove at least a little food down his non-working throat. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice what he was eating or that his friends were talking about him just across the table.

_Damn you, Tom. Why are you making me feel this way? And why do I feel as if I can't tell my friends what is wrong?_

"_Well, I'm not sure I see how the latter is my fault."_

Harry was so surprised to hear Tom's voice in his head that he dropped his fork full of hash browns in his cup of coffee and felt his jaw drop. Once the initial surprise had passed, however, he felt cold anger take its place.

"_What do you want? Why are you in my head?"_

"_I'm in your head because I feel bad about last night and because I want to apologize for my words and actions."_

"_Well too bad. I don't care what you have to say. What you did was mean, and the fact of who you are does not help. I can not, _will_ not, have a relationship of any kind with Voldemort."_

"_I know what I did was wrong, and I'm sorry. But—"_

"_No 'but's. I can't accept your apology. Maybe if you weren't an evil Dark Lord that has been trying to _kill_ me for the past 16 years things would be different. But you aren't, so they aren't. Now go away and leave me in peace. You've caused enough problems as it is."_

Harry tried with all his might and was able to sever the connection between their minds only to notice that he was going to be late for History of Magic. As he hurried off he couldn't shake the empty feeling that had replaced Tom's voice.

* * *

**A/N:** Please don't kill me? I know you all wanted to see more Harry/Tom action, but be patient, it will all come in time. 

I tried a new beta this time, a friend of mine's younger brother. I'm not sure I will do that again because she told me he compleatly mutalated it, and didn't let me read it!

And finally, Reviews! Holy crap people! You all rock! 14 reviews! You make me all so happy. And like all things that make me happy, I become addicted to them! So keep up with the reviews and I'll get busy on chapter 6!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Only one month until my birthday!

**A/N:** Okay then, sorry for the wait, but when I tried to post it yesterday ff wasn't cooperating. On to the story!

xxxXXxxx time jump or POV change

"_stuff in italics" _mind speak.

* * *

December brought cold winds and lots of snow to the Hogwarts castle. A month had passed since the Halloween ball, and everything had returned to normal. Well, almost everything; Harry still couldn't sleep at night without waking up in a very uncomfortable state. He was at least thankful that there had been no more mind conversations with Voldemort. The holiday break was to begin in the next few days and the thought of it didn't have much effect on Harry's mood. He was excited because it meant that most of the school would be leaving. However, this year 'most of the school' included Ron and Hermione. They had started going out shortly after the Halloween ball and Hermione had invited Ron to her house for the holiday. She had invited Harry also, but he declined. Seeing the two of them together depressed him enough as it was and he didn't think he could stand the entire break around just the two of them. So, he decided to stay at the school instead. The only real big disadvantage to this plan of action was that every time Ron and Hermione started making plans about what to do over break (so far they had decided on teaching Ron how to ski and the proper use of matches), Harry couldn't participate in the conversation much and would start spacing out to occupy himself. Normally, the spacey-ness would be okay, but lately his thoughts had been focused towards on the Dark Lord when he did. He wondered if he should try and contact Tom; if maybe that would get his mind of him a little bit. _Not that my mind should be on him in the first place,_ he would always grumble to himself. But every time he got up the courage to do so, someone or something would distract him, and he wouldn't contact Tom, and then go about his business wishing he had. 

xxxXXxxx

Harry walked with Ron and Hermione to the edge of the grounds on the last day of term to see them off. They had planned to apparate, but as Ron still hadn't passed his apparation test yet, he was going to be side-along apparating with Hermione to her house. After saying goodbye to both and watching them disappear with a crack, Harry turned and headed up the steps back into the castle.

xxxXXxxx

Around 11:30 that night, Harry was laying in bed trying to sleep, but not succeeding as usual. His thoughts turned once again to what seemed to be their favorite subject of late: Tom. Once again Harry wondered if he should try and contact the Dark Lord, but then remembered what time it was. He decided to try and open the link, just a little, to see if Tom was even awake at this hour. As he did so he felt a small bit of frustration and annoyance seeping through from Tom's side. Harry decided that yes, Tom was awake, but had had a bad day. For some reason this made Harry want to comfort the frustrated man. This thought in itself scared Harry, but he was tired of fighting. So instead of fighting off all of those very strange urges, he gave in and began to talk to the Dark Lord.

"_Bad day?"_

Tom dropped his pen in shock. Was Harry actually talking to him? Did this mean that he had forgiven him? Or was this just another of the dreams he had been having on the rare occasions that he actually let himself sleep? Whatever it was, Tom decided that he should respond to Harry soon or the boy would think that was mad at him.

"_Uh…sorry. I shouldn't have bothered you. I'll just go now."_ Harry quickly began to pull out of Tom's mind

"_No, no, it's okay, really. You just surprised me, that's all. Yes, I had a bit of a rough day. Bella tried to kiss me and then feel me up. She had apparently been put up to it because at the first advance all the other Death Eaters began to laugh hysterically."_

Harry tried to contain his laughter, but couldn't keep the amusement from his voice when he next spoke. _"Really now? And what did you do?"_

"_Conjured an anvil and dropped it on her head, then did a wide range crucio on all of the people laughing."_

"_I'll bet that shut them up."_

"_Of course it did. They all left fairly soon afterwards, too."_

When Harry couldn't think of anything to say, it led to an awkward silence that Harry was too nervous to break. Tom didn't seem to notice, however, and decided to breech what seemed to be a dangerous topic with Harry.

"_I_ _have a question for you. Are you still mad at me_?"

"_I don't even know anymore. Ron and Hermione started going out after the ball, and every time I see them together it reminds me of you and what happened. And then I just get confused." _Harry had said it all before he could stop himself. Once he had, however, he felt a mixture of relief and apprehensiveness.

"_I think I know what you mean, especially when it comes to the confused part. It's probably the same as what I'm feeling as well. Tell me if I am right. You remember what I did, and remember how it made you feel. Then you remember who it was that you were with, and just the idea that you could possibly, _maybe_ fancy your ultimate enemy scares the crap out of you."_

"_Yes! That is _exactly_ right! And I think 'how can I possibly like someone who is so much older than me and who killed my parents and tried to kill me."_

"_I do regret that, just so you know. I would like to see you again sometime, and actually talk to you face-to-face. We could do something over the holidays! If you wanted to, that is…"_

Harry was surprised at how cheerful the Dark Lord had become, and then how quickly his voice seemed to contain uncertainness, a trait he never would have expected of the evil Lord Voldemort. _"I think I would like that. Maybe it will help me solve some of these arguments I'm having with myself. One problem though: I'm at Hogwarts for the Holidays, and there is no way Dumbledore is going to let me leave without knowing exactly where I am."_

"_Hmm, that does present a problem. Would the old coot at least let you go to Hogsmeade to do some Christmas shopping?"_

"_I think so, but he'll probably make one of the other teachers come with me, if he doesn't come himself."_

"_That's okay. I can work around that. Just let me know the date that you are going as soon as you can."_

"_Um…okay. What's going to happen? Are you going to show up and spend the day with me there or take me somewhere else?"_

"_Somewhere else, but don't worry about needing to bring anything. Just you and your wand will be sufficient. Now, however, I am going to bed. You should do the same. It's 2:30 already."_

"_Wow, I guess I lost track of time. Okay. I'll let you know when I know the date then. G'night Tom, sweet dreams."_ Harry sent a quick mental hug Tom's way before almost completely closing the connection, but leaving it ajar, just in case. He then rolled over in his bed and slept peacefully for the first time in over a month with pleasant dreams of Tom.

xxxXXxxx

"Please, Sir? I need to go shopping for Christmas presents! You wouldn't let me go on the last trip, and Christmas is next week!"

The next morning found Harry in Dumbledore's office trying desperately to convince the old man to let him go

"I don't know, Harry. Voldemort has been doing a lot of attacks lately. I don't think it's safe to let you go down and wander Hogsmeade alone."

"Then send one of the staff with me! Or better yet, why don't you come with me? It would be nice to spend some time with you, Headmaster. You could teach me some more defensive spells like you did last year." Harry knew he was begging, but didn't care. He really wanted to see Tom again, and the only way that was going to happen was if he convinced Dumbledore to let him go off Hogwarts grounds.

"Or we could look at socks! Well, I suppose, Harry. But you must let me come with you, and we can't just stay in the streets and you can't wander off."

"Okay, Sir. Can we go tomorrow?"

"Of course. The sooner the better, right? How about 2'o clock? That way we don't have to worry about stopping to eat. Meet me here at that time, understood?"

"Yes Sir." Harry turned and left the office, mentally cheering at such an early date. "_Hey Tom? Do you have a sec?"_ When there was no response Harry tried again, going a little farther into Tom's mind. _"Tom? Toooom?"_ Harry felt the Dark Lord jump in surprise.

"_Harry? Is that" _he yawned _"is that you?"_

"_Yeah, it is. Did I wake you? I was just going to tell you that I got a date for Hogsmeade."_

"_You got one already?"_ All of his weariness was gone in a flash at this news. _"When?"_

"_Tomorrow. Does that work okay?"_

"_That works fine. Now, what I'll need you to do is contact me when you walk by Zonko's, okay? And, try and act surprised at what happens, okay?"_

"_Sure thing, Tom. I'll just let you go back to sleep now, shall I?"_

"_That would be great. I'll see you tomorrow, Harry. Good-bye."_

Harry felt the Dark Lord shut the link about halfway and then go back to sleep, so he decided to go wander the grounds or do whatever else he felt like with the whole school to himself.

xxxXXxxx

"Can we go in here, Sir?"

The next afternoon found Harry and the Headmaster outside of Honeydukes. Harry was trying to act normal, but his anxiety over what was going to be happening soon was making him very jumpy and nervous.

"I can't see why not. Maybe they'll have those new coffee/potato swirl lollies in stock!"

Harry frowned at the idea of coffee and potatoes mixed together, but followed Dumbledore into the shop anyway. Dumbledore looked around for a bit while Harry bought gifts for his friends. He found some licorice spiders that he got for Ron as a practical joke and some edible paper for Hermione. As they were bundling up to leave again Dumbledore suggested that they go to Zonko's. Harry couldn't do much else but agree, so they headed up the street towards the joke shop. When they were about 2 shops away from it, Harry contacted Tom.

"_Tom? We're almost to Zonko's. What do you want me to do?"_

"_You're there? Now listen closely. Follow him into the shop, but try and get out of his immediate sight once in there. I'm going to be in a form other than Tom or Voldemort, so you probably won't recognize me, but when someone with spiked blond hair grabs you by the arm, follow them without a struggle or making any noise. Okay?"_

"_Understood. We are entering the shop now."_

And indeed they were. Once inside Dumbledore immediately saw some type of jokes that had to do with socks and headed straight towards them. Harry took his chance and went towards the opposite side of the shop, but still relatively near the door. Almost immediately a young boy, probably 11 or 12 years old, with spiked blond hair came up and took Harry by the hand and led him out the door. As soon as they were outside the young boy wrapped Harry in a great hug and whispered something in a language that Harry did not understand and the two of them disappeared from the crowded street without a sound.

* * *

**A/N:** It's done! I know, I left you all with another cliff, but I thought it would be better to do it this way, plus it made this my longest chapter so far with 2,005 words! 

Reviews! They make me happy, so keep it up! Also, if it isn't too much to ask, if you could put how you found my story in a review (if you review), that would be awesome. There isn't any specific reason for this, I'm just curious. Another thing! I'm taking a couple of pools at my school and it would be nice to get some other opinions. The questions are...: Are coffee or potatoes better? & Are girls or guys more confusing and why?

Soo, see you all again later, I'm going to try and have the next one out by my birthday(April 20.)!

N.L.


	7. Chapter 7

Rating: Pg-13

Warnings: Basicly just slash. That means guy on guy!

Disclaimer: High school can be confusing. If I owned Harry Potter, then things would have more reality in them!

**A/N:** Yay! It's out on time! I have decided I like this chapter. Hope you all do too!

xxxXXxxx time jump or pov change

"_stuff in italics_" mind speak

* * *

Harry had closed his eyes during the transportation from Hogsmeade, but opened them when he felt his feet hit the ground. The only thing that kept him from falling was the small boy holding him. Opening his eyes, Harry saw, not a young kid holding him, but a full grown Dark Lord. Upon seeing him, Harry had a rush of mixed feelings, among them hate, anger, happiness, and sympathy. After taking a closer look at the man holding him, though, sympathy mixed with a little bit of worry overshadowed all of the others. Tom looked awful. He had deep bags under his half closed foggy eyes, his skin was even paler than normal, and his hair looked as if it hadn't been washed in many days. 

"Holy crap, Tom! You look _terrible!_ What happened?"

"Nice to see you, too, Harry. And I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Tom, you have huge bags under the eyes that you can't keep open, your hair looks super dull, and your face is even paler than normal! Don't tell me you have no idea what I'm talking about, I won't take it."

"Okay, okay, so I had a few bad nights…" As Tom said this he had begun walking towards one of the nearby chairs, but stumbled so much on the way over that Harry quickly ran over to make sure he didn't fall. However, has he got closer he somehow didn't notice the rug on the ground and tripped over it so that he went flying. Fortunately, Harry quickly had his wand out and had the dark lord levitating before he could hit the ground.

"Thank you, Harry. You can put me down now."

"No. You are obviously dead on your feet. You can't walk; I can't even understand how you can put together complete sentences. I am levitating you straight to bed, no matter what you say. I don't care if you think I'm being pushy or that this is unnecessary, I'm doing it anyways. Now, which way to your room?"

Realizing that he had already lost the fight, Tom just pointed towards the nearest staircase and allowed Harry to begin levitating him up it. Once in the bedroom, however, Tom insisted that Harry put him down and let him get into bed on his own. Harry did so, and the Dark Lord was quickly asleep. Harry sat and watched him sleep for about 5 min, just thinking how peaceful the man who had killed countless people looked, before digging out his downsized invisibility cloak and enlarging it again before slipping it and heading out for an exploration of the house.

xxxXXxxx

Tom woke up a few hours later, around dinner time, feeling completely awake for the first time in a very long time. He slowly got out of the bed, wincing at how cold the room felt on his bare feet compared to his nice warm bed. He went into the bathroom and splashed water on his face to help wake him up, before heading out to find Harry. He finally found the teen, or the teen's head, anyway, asleep on one of the couches. _Heh, I should have known he would bring his invisibility cloak. Lucky for me it slipped off or I bet I would have ended up sitting on him._ After admiring the younger man's features for a few moments he lightly grabbed the sleeping boy's shoulder and gently shook him awake.

"..wha? Where am I? Tom?"

"Hey handsome. Sorry to wake you, but the house-elves have dinner ready."

"Wake me? Wait, did I fall asleep? The last thing I remember was thinking that this one couch looked really soft and then laying on it for a few moments."

"Well, apparently you were tired too. Now come on, or dinner is going to get cold."

"Okay."

Harry rose and began to follow Tom out of the room. As they entered the dining room, one of the house-elves took one look at Harry and ran from the room as fast as his little legs would carry him.

Harry took the chair next to the one Tom sat down in. "What's his problem?" He asked while pointing his thumb in the direction that the elf had run off in.

"Well, you see, they aren't used to seeing floating heads walk around."

"Floating heads? I wouldn't think they would be, but was that got to do with anything?" Tom conjured a mirror in response. "Oh… I never took off my invisibility cloak…"

"And Bingo was his name!" Tom laughed, Harry soon joined in before they both dug into their meal of ham and mashed potatoes.

xxxXXxxx

After dinner found Tom and Harry sitting in chairs by the fire, sipping warm cups of coffee and just enjoying one another's company. Harry took another drink from his mug thinking about the last time he had seen tom face-to-face and had been alone with him when a puzzling thought entered his mind. How had Tom gotten into Hogwarts that night? Harry decided to ask the older man.

"Hey Tom, I have a question for you. How did you get into Hogwarts on Halloween?"

"Ah yes, I was wondering when you were going to be getting around to asking that. You see, my original plan was to recruit more people and find out who was close to you and Dumbledore. However, you succeeded very well in distracting me, and after you left I was in no mood to continue my plan and went home."

"You didn't answer my question of how you got in."

"Oh. Well, you remember the Chamber of Secrets?"

"How could I forget about _that?_"

"Well, as none of the previous headmasters have known about it, there are no apparation wards on it. So basically, I apparated in, and then walked down to the Slytherin dorms where I met up with the children of my Death Eaters."

"That actually makes sense…"

"Of course it does. It _was_ my idea after all."

"Oh, and of course anything that was your plan was smart and perfect."

"Don't you know it. Come now, time for bed, dear Harry. I shall show you to your room."

Tom took his and Harry's now empty mugs and gave them to a house-elf to take care of before leading Harry up the main stairs and down a hallway.

"You already know that this is my room, and yours is the one right across the hall." Tom pointed to a door directly across from his own. "Here, let me show you around real quick." Tom opened the door and led Harry in to revel a room done up in all different shades of green. The walls were a cool but dark green, the carpet the color of grass on a golf course. There was a large canopy bed against one of the walls with lime green silk sheets and a pale green canopy over the top of it. "…and through that door over there is the bathroom. If you need anything else just holler for me or one of the house-elves. They will happily get you anything you request. There are robes that should fit you in that bureau over there, along with some different styles of pajamas. Don't worry about getting up at any certain time, whenever you happen to wake up is fine. One last thing, don't be surprised if Nagini comes in during the night; she tends to do so quite a bit. I think that's all. See you in the morning, Harry. Sweet dreams." Tom looked into Harry's eyes for just a moment before turning and heading towards the exit.

"Tom! Wait!"

"Yes? Did you need something else Harry?"

"Just one small thing."

"And that would be…"

"A good-night kiss, of course."

Tom felt his breath catch in his throat before his lips suddenly were being covered by Harry's. He let his eyes slip shut before wrapping his arms around Harry's waist even as he felt one of the younger man's hands tangle in his hair and the other gently caressing his face. After too soon a time, however, both had to come back for air. They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before Tom leaned back down and placed one more gentle kiss on his lips and then stepped back from the teen.

"Good-night Harry." Tom smiled at Harry as he turned to leave for one last time.

"Good-night Tom. See you in the morning."

Harry watched the door shut behind the 'evil' Dark Lord before heading towards the bathroom to get ready for bed.

xxxXXxxx

The next morning Harry woke up around 10 feeling completely rested and wide awake, but very much wondering if Tom was still asleep or awake or where he was if he was awake. Harry grabbed an over robe and slippers before exiting his room and walking over to the door across from his own. He stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do, before deciding on knocking. There was no answer, so Harry gently pushed the door open and headed inside.

With only his head in, Harry could see the general layout of the room. It was the same as his, but with silver along with green. _Typical. He _would_ have the Slytherin colors in his room._ Harry glanced around, couldn't find Tom, and was about to leave the room when a lump on the bed that had been thought to be a pillow moved. _Lazy bum. Still in bed, I see. Let's see…How should I wake him up?_ Harry thought for a moment before coming up with the perfect way to wake up the peacefully sleeping man.

He quickly summoned a can of whip cream from the kitchen before quietly walking over to the edge of the bed. He uncapped the lid and sprayed a large pile of the fluffy white food onto the Dark Lord's hand that lay sprawled across one of the pillows relatively near to his head. He then conjured a feather and began to tickle the older man's nose.

Just as expected, Tom reached up with his whip cream covered hand and started to rub his nose. Harry began to laugh and had to quickly cover his mouth with his own clean hand. Tom suddenly sat bolt up right mumbling nonsense. This only made Harry laugh harder.

"What the blazes? What is this stuff on my face? Get it off get it off get it off!

Harry laughed. "Tom, calm down; its just whipped cream. I'll go get you a towel."

Harry came back from the bathroom carrying a towel and handed it to Tom, who immediately began to wipe the stuff off of his face.

"Now, would you care to explain what that was all about?"

"I'm sorry, but you just looked way to peaceful. I had to, and it was the best way I could think of. You should have seen your face!"

"Yes, well, I wasn't expecting to be woken up like that." Tom grumbled. "What time is it anyway?"

"Um," Harry checked his watch, "About 10:30."

"Oh. Well, how about I get dressed and then we can go have some breakfast?"

"Sounds good to me."

Tom began to push the covers back and get out of bed before grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him down on the bed next to him.

"By the way, good morning Harry." Tom leaned down and met Harry's lips with his own for a second before pulling back again. "Now shoo. I'll meet you in the dining room in 10 min and we can decide what to do for the rest of the day. Okay?"

Harry, who was still a little surprised by the sudden kiss, only nodded his head before turning and heading towards the door. It took him a few tries because on the first one he ran into the wall right next to the door.

"Little to your right!" Tom called at him.

Harry spared him a glare before actually walking out the door to go prepare for the day.

* * *

**A/N:** Woohooo! All done! One of my friends gave me the idea for the prank. I thought it was funny...

Next chapter: Snape comes back into the story!

Reviews! Holy crap you people rock! My last count was in the 70's. You have no idea how happy that makes me! Now, tomarrow in my birthday, so give me lots of reviews to wake up to and make my day extra special? Love ya all!

N.L.


	8. Chapter 8

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Hot guys making out, and a little bit of language

Disclaimer: Yeah right, like I could own Harry Potter.

xxxXXxxx time jump or pov change

_"Stuff in italics" _mind speak

**A/N:** So sorry this took so long to get out! After school ended it was a little hetic, but has calmed down since.Enjoy what took me a month and a half to write!

* * *

Harry and Tom were sitting at the table eating a simple breakfast when none other than Severus Snape came rushing into the room.

"My Lord!" He bowed deeply, "Dumbledore is in a panic. The Potter boy has gone missing, from right under his nose, in fact. He could be anywhere! Now is our time to find the boy!" Severus said all this in a rush so it was barely comprehendible. Apparently he had not seen the said Potter boy sitting next to the Dark Lord. However, from Snape's point of view, that was entirely possible as Tom was a bit larger than Harry and hid the smaller boy easily.

Tom looked at the red-faced potions master for a moment before turning to Harry. Harry had a wicked gleam in his eye and immediately asked the Dark Lord for permission to carry out his wish.

"_Can I prank him? Please? I've always wanted to, but Dumbledore would never let me."_

Tom chuckled mentally. _"I don't see why not. What do you have in mind?"_

"_You'll see."_

As Snape had yet to see Harry, it was all too easy for him to slip on his shrunken invisibility cloak.

"_Keep talking. I need a few minuets to set this up."_

"So, the Potter boy is missing? How did this happen?"

"Well, apparently the brat talked Dumbledore into taking him into Hogsmeade, just the two of them. Once there the old coot was distracted by who knows what and Potter slipped right out the door. He didn't even notice that he was alone until he had been in the store for over an hour and couldn't find the boy to show him an edible sock or something of the sort."

While Snape talked, Harry quietly sneaked around and placed a muggle joke on the chair on the other side of Voldemort. Once it was in place he snuck back over to stand next to Tom and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"_Have him sit down."_

"Ah. Finally, the time has come to make our move." Tom said in a deep, evil voice. At the sound of it, Harry gave an involuntary shiver that had nothing to do with fear. Tom felt it though their link and smirked to himself. Motioning to the chair next to him, Tom said, "Sit down, Severus, and we shall plan out our next move.

Severus moved to take the offered chair and sat down. Once his butt had made contact with the chair, a loud farting sound filled the air. Severus turned a beat red when he realized that the sound had come from him. Tom gave him a disapproving glare before bursting into laughter. Harry also burst into laughter, laughter that only grew when he saw the confused look on his professor's face. Deciding to relieve the Potions Master of the thought that he was insane, Harry removed his cloak. This only caused more surprise to appear on Severus's face.

"You're blushing, Severus." Tom pointed out.

Snape quickly gathered his composure before replying. "Yes, well, I didn't expect to come upon a muggle prank while in your manor, my Lord. May I inquire what this is?"

"It's called a 'woopie cushion'." Harry told him. "Every party store has them."

"Oh." All of a sudden Severus seemed to realize who he was talking to for the first time. "Wait, why are you here in the first place?"

Harry grinned and looked at Tom.

"Harry is here under my uh…protection."

"Protection? But, My Lord, he is our ultimate foe. I thought our goal was to kill him, not protect him."

"Severus, have you or have you not been making friends with him, since the beginning of the year?"

"Well, you see, he…um…"

"You're lying, Severus."

"It was his idea!" Severus yelled when he couldn't come up with an idea and pointed at Harry.

Tom turned to look at Harry. Harry looked at him back.

"_Was it really?"_

"_Yes, it was. I was sick and tired of being pushed around by him, so I did something about it. I don't regret it either."_

"_Harry, he is your teacher. I can't believe he didn't turn you in."_

Harry smirked mentally. _"I know, but since when have I been one to follow the rules? And about turning me in, you really think he wants Dumbledore knowing that his spy for you was getting closer to me?"_

"_Good point. Why am I not coming up with this stuff?"_

"_Because while in my presence your brain doesn't work, remember?"_

"_Oh yes, now I remember. It's because of this unthinkable attraction I have towards you."_

As Tom said this last line he leaned over to Harry and began to kiss him. Severus Snape had watched the two mentally converse without having the slightest idea what was going on, and was extremely surprised to see Voldemort kiss Harry. When Harry began to visibly kiss him back, it was too much for Severus and he fainted.

Once they had separated again, Harry noticed the unconscious potions master lying on the floor.

"Heh, looks like we took care of him."

Without even looking to see what Harry was talking about, Tom mumbled "We sure did" before quickly capturing Harry's lips once more.

xxxXXxxx

After reviving the Potions Master, they sent him back to Hogwarts with the order to tell Dumbledore that he had contacted Voldemort and Harry was being held captive, but that if Dumbledore tried to send any rescue missions that Voldemort would be able to tell. This was of course not true, but Tom and Harry really didn't want to have to deal with the man that Harry was beginning to like less and less during break.

xxxXXxxx

The next few days leading up to Christmas passed by quickly. Harry was able to persuade Tom into playing one-on-one Quidditch with him and racing on the brooms, and Tom taught Harry some new moves at Wizard Chess so that he could beat Ron the next time he played him. They also went out to a muggle village a few miles away in order to let Harry go skiing for the first time (something he was surprisingly good at, even if Tom had a few problems) and also ice skating on the lake behind Tom's house.

To Harry, the last few days had been like someone else's life, they had been so wonderful. There were times that he just couldn't believe what he had and that a guy as awesome as Tom could have an interest in him also.

Christmas Eve was just like any other evening, they each went to their separate rooms after sharing a goodnight kiss, just like they had ever since Harry's first night there. However, when Harry woke up Christmas morning, he found Tom sitting on the end of his bed watching him.

"This is different. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas to you too, Harry." Tom replied, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

"So, do I get any presents?" Harry asked eagerly.

"You know, sometimes I wonder how old you actually are."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyway, presents?"

Tom laughed. "Oh, all right. Yes, there are presents downstairs. However, I would like to give you one know, if you don't mind."

Harry looked at Tom skeptically. "Okay, I don't see why not."

"Well, you know how we've had a wonderful time these last few days? Well, I wrote something for you."

Harry raised his eyebrows at Tom but took the offered piece of paper. Immediately after touching it he was whisked through the memories of the past few days, as if he was re-living it at a faster speed. Only, instead of nature sounds, there was a different sound in the background. Harry listened, and realized that it was someone singing; that it was Tom singing. He listened closer, and this is what he heard.

"Never knew, I could feel like this. Like I've never seen the sky before. I want to vanish inside your kiss. Each day I love you more, and more. Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing. It's telling me to give you everything. Seasons may change, winter to spring, but I'll love you, until the end of time. Come what may, come what may, I will love you, until my dying day."

Harry was speechless. Tom loved him! He couldn't believe it. He pulled himself out of the memories, and found himself sitting next to Tom on his bed again. After a moments silence Tom asked, "Well?"

"It was wonderful. Thank you, Tom." Tom leaned over and wrapped Harry in a hug. He thought he could hear the teen whispering something, and after listening closer, it turned out that Harry could also sing, and was.

"Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place. Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace. Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste. It all revolves around you. And there's no mountain to high, no river to wide, sing out this song and I'll be there by your side. Storm clouds may gather, and storms may collide. But I love you, until the end of time. I love you too, Tom."

* * *

**A/N**: Okay, going to try and have the next one up before I leave for a camp with no computers (July 9). Hope you liked it! 

Reviews improve my mood! And good mood means good story!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: not mine

* * *

The last few days before Harry had to return to Hogwarts passed too quickly for both Harry's and Tom's tastes. After their professions of love on Christmas day they had become even closer, and both dreaded Harry's departure. They invented a story to tell Dumbledore, and Tom used some muggle costume paint to cover Harry in many cuts and bruises before he apparated to outside the main gates of Hogwarts. Snape, who already knew of the plan, was there to meet Harry and caught him as he suddenly 'collapsed from the exhaustion of getting away from Voldemort'. That's what they told Dumbledore, anyway. Over the break Tom had fine tuned Harry's Occlumency skills, and with their combined powers they were able to keep the headmaster form realizing that their story was in fact a lie. 

Harry arrived earlier in the day than Ron and Hermione, and as Dumbledore had thought it best not to inform the Prophet of Harry's 'kidnapping', they knew nothing of it. So when the couple entered the common room that evening and asked Harry how his Christmas had been, he was able to tell them that it was boring without any previous knowledge to contradict his story. Ron, being a guy, took Harry's words at face value, but Hermione, being a cleaver witch, noticed that Harry didn't meet either of their eyes when answering their questions. After Ron had gone to bed, Hermione approached Harry.

"So Harry, you had a very 'boring' Christmas?"

Harry looked up from a book he had gotten from Tom over the holiday. "Yup, pretty much."

"What did you do to pass the time?"

"Oh, you know, built snowmen, went ice skating, hung out in front of the fire, that sort of thing."

Hermione watched as Harry's eyes glazed over as he became lost in his memories. She gave him a few moments before capturing his attention once more.

"Is that a new book?"

"Yes, I got it for Christmas."

"Really? Who from?"

"I uh… I don't remember…"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that so? Tell me, Harry, in second year, who gave you that eagle-feather quill that you use all the time?"

Almost immediately Harry answered. "You did. It was a _luxury_ quill."

"And in third year, who gave you a Gryffindor lion sweater?"

"Mrs. Weasley. She gives us all them every year."

"And forth year, who gave you a pair of mismatched socks?"

"Ha, I remember that, Moody commented on them at the ball. Dobby gave them to me."

"And who gave you this book?"

"Tom did of course, I'll never forget that."

"And who is Tom?"

"You know, Tom, the one I spent all holi…oh no." Hermione raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Oh no. I shouldn't have told you that, I really shouldn't have told you that…" Harry moaned as he buried his head in his hands.

Hermione got up and moved to sit next to him. "Harry, I've known you for the past 7 years. We've been through a lot together. You know you can tell me anything."

Harry raised his head to look at her. True, he had never kept anything from her before. But could he tell her this? Or would it become a repeat of third year and she would go tell Professor McGonagall the first chance she got? He decided he would tell her, and if she flipped out he could always obliviate it from her memory.

So Harry began his tale, starting with the mystery boy at the Halloween ball. He told how Tom had kissed him and then found out who he was; how he Harry had left in fury, then was scared to contact him for weeks and weeks; how he finally did contact Tom, and how they got together over break.

"And I love him very much, Hermione, and he loves me. Please don't ruin this for me." Harry pleaded.

"Ruin it for you? I'm so happy for you! I noticed that you looked better than you have ever since Sirius died. Congratulations!"

"You aren't mad? After all, he is a Dark Lord that we've been working against most of our lives."

"No, I trust your judgment, and if you trust him, so do I. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Harry enveloped the bushy haired girl in a hug. "Thank you so much Hermione! You have no idea what this means to me. One other thing, though, can you not tell Ron, please? It's just, he doesn't even know that I'm gay."

"No problem, Harry. I'll let you tell him when you're ready."

"Thanks. I think I'm going to head to bed to. G'night, Hermione."

"Good night, Harry. Sweet dreams!" She said with a wink. Harry just rolled his eyes before climbing the stairs to bed.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry its so short! I hit a major writers block. However, since I'll be spending the next 4 weeks without a computer, I might actualy get some writing done! 

Also, I realized I havn't been thanking everyone for their awesome reviews! So, to make up for that, I am going to personaly respond to everyone who reviews this chapter! It just may take awhile...


	10. Chapter 10

**Rating: **PG-13

**Warnings:** Character death

**Disclaimer:** I don't even have a job, let alone Harry Potter...

* * *

Monday morning dawned too early for everyone at Hogwarts, and the great hall was much more quiet than normal. Throughout the entire meal Hermione kept sneaking glances at Harry and smiling as she did so, making him turn red and glare at her in return. Ron was oblivious through it all. As the next few days passed Harry began to come down from his joyful high and steadily become more depressed. It seemed as if everything he saw, heard, touched, thought about, reminded him of Tom. He literally could not get his mind off the man. 

Harry had also never noticed the amount of public displays of affection that went on at Hogwarts. His first day back he noticed at least four couples making out on the way to just one class.

_Oh, they just missed each other over the break; it'll calm down soon enough._

The problem was, it only seemed to get worse. It seemed there was nowhere he could go where he didn't have to look at one form or another of affection between couples. It had never bothered him in the past, but now that he literally _couldn't_ do anything, it did. Not for lack of trying, of course, but it wasn't his fault Tom couldn't go to Hogwarts with Harry. It wasn't until he walked into the common room one night to find Hermione laying on one of the couches with Ron leaning over her, both enthralled with the others mouth, that his resolve to not say anything snapped.

"That's it! I'm sick of all this!"

Ron immediately scrambled off of Hermione as she sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. Both watched Harry has he stalked over to them.

"What has gotten into everyone? Especially you two! You know better than this. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have to watch you eat each other's faces?"

Ron and Hermione only averted their eyes in shame.

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry. It isn't my place to be yelling at you. But isn't there some rule against all the PDA going on around here? Hermione?"

"Well, yes, there is, but no one enforces it because it applies to the teachers also. And you don't really want to walk in on McGonagall and Dumbledore if you show up early for a class, now do you?"

Harry sighed again. "Okay, fine. You're right, as always."

He looked up at the faces of his two friends to see Hermione give him a grim smile. Ron glanced between Harry and Hermione with a smug look before leaning forward to gently bite at Hermione's ear. Harry watched as Hermione stiffened and her breath caught, before she quickly turned to capture Ron's mouth with her own and began fervently making out with him again.

"What the Hell you two! Didn't we _just_ go over this??? I'm standing RIGHT HERE!"

Hermione broke away from Ron to glare at Harry.

"You know what! Just because _you_ were stupid enough to fall in love with a guy who is way too old for you and doesn't go here doesn't mean you can take your sexual frustrations out on us!

"Arg! That isn't even what I'm talking about!" Harry snapped back, "But, now that you mention it...Now, I'm not sure about you, but I wouldn't be very fond if _my_ boyfriend was sleeping with _three_ other girls behind my back even though he's gay and says that he loves me. But hey! That's just me. It might not bother you at all."

"What are you trying to say?" Hermione asked defensively. Behind her Ron suddenly tensed and began to shake his head franticly at Harry.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just that- Oh, I'm sorry. Ron, is there something you'd like to say?" Ron only glared at Harry in silence. "You sure? Okay then. Anyway, Hermione, just wanted to let you know that your boyfriend has been having a nice little orgy behind your back."

Hermione stared at Harry. "…What??" Then turned to Ron. "With who?!?"

Ron gulped and tried to smile at his girlfriend. "N-now, sweetie, you don't actually believe him, do you? I mean, it's not like I'm _gay, _that's just wrong!"

This was the wrong thing to say, however, and pushed the already livid Harry over the line of sane thinking.

"Move, Hermione." He said in a deadly voice. She took one look at Harry's face and scrambled out of the way. "_Avada Kedavera!"_

Hermione screamed as Ron fell forward onto the floor and ran to Harry's arms.

"You killed him! Harry, you'd better go. Their going to know an unforgivable was performed in the castle. Go! Go to Tom. I'll stay here and gather some allies. Hedwig will keep us in touch."

"You aren't mad?"

"No, he was starting to annoy me anyway. Now go! Take your Firebolt and invisibility cloak and go!"

Harry hugged Hermione one last time before dashing up to his dorm. He grabbed his invisibility cloak from his trunk, hopped on his Firebolt, and flew out the window. He could hear yelling out on the grounds, knew that he soon they would find Ron and Hermione would have to tell them the truth, that the Great Harry Potter had killed him and then fled from the castle. He reached a spot where he felt the wards from Hogwarts end and apparated himself to Tom's mansion.

* * *

**A/N:** I know, thats a very poor update, espically after such a long wait. I wrote most of it over the past 3 months, and then the last part tonight. However, I now know where this stroy is gone. Expect one, maybe 2 more chapters, and then this storys done. Sorta lost intrest, y'know? 

Anyway, reviews are still welcome! And thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last time. I am thankful for you all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

N.L.


	11. Chapter 11

**Rating:** PG-13

**Warnings: **more character deaths, a tad bit of swearing, some non-smutty but none-the-less-very-disturbing scenes...

**Disclaimer:** It's my sweet sixteen! Anyone wanna give me Tom? Or do I need to just take him and run?

**A/N: **I know it's long. My longest to date, actually. My writing style changes dependng on my mood, so I'm very sorry if the sudden changes annoy you throughout the story.

But, here it is, as promised. Enjoy!

* * *

"He's dead! 

"Potter killed him!"

"Potter? _Harry _Potter?"

"He's still dead!!!"

The Gryffindor common room was ablaze with the noises of people crying and yelling. Hermione had waited about five minutes, hoping to give Harry ample time to leave the castle, before running off in search of Professor McGonagall. However, she was so lost in thought as she ran that she didn't watch where she was going and ran right into Professor McGonagall. Literally.

**Minuets earlier…**

Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk when an alarm that indicated chaos in the Gryffindor common room suddenly went off.

'_Great.'_ She thought. _'I wonder what they've done this time…_ "I'm sorry, Sibyll but can we finish this later? I need to check on my house." For, while she had been sitting there, Sibyll Trelawney had been sitting across from her, telling McGonagall of her latest vision.

"But Minerva! I'm telling you, Harry Potter is dangerous! He's going to kill someone!"

"Now, just because he hasn't died in the past 4 years like you've been predicting doesn't mean that you need to change your predictions. But I'm afraid I really must go."

"But he's evil! I swear it!" She shouted as McGonagall stood up and walked out the door, before quickly chasing after her.

**Back in the present…**

When Hermione ran into McGonagall, she caused all three of them to fall over due to the domino effect. McGonagall broke her hip, and Trelawney hit her head on the floor, received a concussion, and died three days later. Hermione did a summersault and landed on her feet.

'_Oh dear,'_ she thought. _'Oh well, I guess I'll go find Dumbledore instead…'_

xxxXXxxx

Harry ran through the halls of Tom's mansion half blinded by the tears streaming down his face. The reality of what he had done had hit him shortly after leaving Hogwarts, and the tears had followed.

He distantly realized that his feet were carrying him towards the room that he knew to be Tom's, and he dimly noticed that he was yelling Tom's name. As he approached the door, it opened, and Tom stepped out, clad in only in the sweat pants he slept in.

"Harry? Oh my god, Harry! What the Hell happened to you?!" Tom yelled as Harry collapsed in his arms.

"Oh, Tom, oh no. I killed him, Tom, I _killed _him!"

"What? Killed who? What are you talking about?"

But all Harry could do was mumble incoherently in Tom's arms, occasionally saying things like "Tom" and "killed him". Tom sighed, shifted to a more comfortable position on the floor, and pulled Harry into his lap.

"Shh. Its okay, love, everything will be fine." Tom continued to whisper comforting words into Harry's ear, and Harry's tears and mumbling eventually ceased. "There. All better, right?" Harry nodded. "Now, can you tell me what happened?" Tom met Harry's eyes as he watched them fill up with fresh tears. Tom sighed and moved to pull Harry against his chest again, but Harry shook his head and began to tell the story.

"And I don't know what came over me, Tom, I just…I don't know, I guess I was jealous in a way and let that take me over…"

Tom wrapped Harry in his arms once more. Harry wrapped his own arms around the larger man in front of him and clung to him like there was nothing else in the world. Tom smiled a sad smile and placed a kiss on Harry's forehead. He moved back a tiny bit and, after gently moving Harry's head so that it was facing his, began to wipe away the remaining tears before kissing each tear line.

More tears trickled down Harry's cheeks as he leaned in and met Tom's waiting lips with his own. Tom's arms went back around Harry's waist as he gently opened his mouth and ran his tongue along Harry's lips, asking for entrance. Harry granted it with a moan, his hands coming up to cup Tom's face and fist his hair. Tom returned Harry's groan with a hungry growl and only pulled back when they both needed air. Harry raised one eyebrow at Tom, which was acknowledged when Tom took Harry's hand in his own before standing and leading him into the bedroom, tossing Harry onto the bed before magically slamming the door closed behind them.

xxxXXxxx

When Hermione finally found Dumbledore, she quickly prepared to block her mind.

"Professor Dumbledore! Come quickly, Ron's been killed!"

Dumbledore quickly got up from his desk and began to head out the door. "Explain." was all he said.

"Well, you see, sir, Ron and I were, well, we were making out on one of the couches in the common room when Harry walked in. He told us we should be ashamed of ourselves, but we ignored him. When he yelled at us again, Harry told me that he had previously walked in on Ron having sex with all of the other 7th year boys, himself not included, a few weeks back. That made Ron mad, so he started insulting gays, which caused Harry to blow his top. I got out of the way just in time." Hermione paused to take a deep breath and strengthen the block on her mind before continuing.

"I tried to stop him sir, I really did, but he turned his wand to me and said he'd kill me too if I did anything. As soon as he was gone I rushed to come find you, I didn't know what else to do! But, there was a small accident on the way…" She trailed off as she pointed to two figures lying in the hallway.

Dumbledore quickly ran over to McGonagall, took one look at the amount of pain she was obviously in, and burst into tears.

"Albus? Albus, don't cry. I'll be fine. I need you to do a favor for me."

Dumbledore took her hand. "Anything," he whispered.

McGonagall rolled her eyes at the dramatic headmaster. "Honestly. I need you to go check on the Gryffindors; my alarms indicated chaos in their common room."

"That isn't important." Dumbledore insisted. "Besides, I already know what happened, Miss Granger over there told me everything. It's not a big deal. All that maters is you…"

"Not important??" Hermione interrupted. "Professor, Ron's body is still lying there, and we have no idea where Harry went! We need your help!"

"She's right, Albus. That type of situation needs you. I'll be fine, I promise."

Dumbledore chocked back another sob and leaned down to visibly suck face with McGonagall.

"Let's go, Professor!" Shouted Hermione, obviously very disturbed by the scene in front of her. Dumbledore quickly pulled away from McGonagall and took off at a sprint down the hall. Hermione pit her head in her hands. "Oh, _now_ he decides to hurry…"

---

Breakfast was a sullen affair. Trelawney had been sent to St. Mungos for massive brain trauma, McGonagall had her hip mended by Madam Pomfrey, and Ron's body had been moved, though no one was quite sure yet as to where.

Not many people looked up when the daily post came. At the Gryffindor table, Hermione was one of the few who did. She had become increasingly anxious as the night had progressed. She knew it was unreasonable to expect any word from Harry so soon, but that didn't stop her from wondering if he was okay.

Her anxiety grew when none of the owls landed in front of her. Continuing to worry, she finished her breakfast before leaving for her first class.

Across the hall, Draco Malfoy looked up just in time to see Hermione make her exit through the grand double doors, shock evident on his face and a letter in his hand.

xxxXXxxx

Harry awoke the next morning wrapped safely in Tom's arms. He took a deep breath as he let the memories of everything that had happened the day before wash over him. They came slowly, moving from his first kill to his breakdown in the hallway and the unfamiliar yet somehow comforting sex that had followed. Harry felt the familiar arms around him tighten briefly.

"Good morning, love." Tom's voice was husky with sleep. "Do you feel any better this morning?"

"Much, thanks." Harry yawned. "A bit guilty, though. I left Hermione alone with the promise that I would bring help soon, yet we haven't even talked about gathering an army or anything…" Harry trailed off.

Tom gently kissed Harry. "Don't worry, love. After we get showered and dressed we'll have breakfast and we can talk it all over then, okay?"

Harry nodded and dragged himself from the bed to begin getting ready for the day.

Immediately upon getting out of bed, Tom had contacted Lucius, believing that Draco could help Hermione. Once Harry and Tom were seated with breakfast in front of them, they began to work out a plan. Tom thought it would be best to storm the castle. Harry disagreed. He thought they should all take polyjuice and sneak in disguised as a group of students on their way back from Hogsmeade. He was very excited that he had come up with what he thought was a valid plan, until Tom pointed out that not only did they not have something of each person to put in the potion, but that most people would notice if there were two of multiple students, and all Hogsmeade trips had been canceled. This of course led to Harry pouting, Tom kissing him to make him feel better, and effectively turned their 'planning' session into a full out 'snogging on the table' session. Once they had both calmed down a bit, they decided on a form of Tom's original plan.

They spent the rest of the day getting everything ready, and that evening Tom called a Death Eater meeting. Harry donned his invisibility cloak and followed Voldemort into the room.

xxxXXxxx

Hermione walked into lunch completely exhausted. The combination of no sleep the night before and lack of word from Harry was causing her to feel as if she could fall asleep on the table . Unfortunately, she didn't make it that far. She had barely walked through the doors when Malfoy intercepted her.

"Granger, we need to talk."

"Not now, Malfoy. There's a bit too much going on for me to deal with you right now."

"I am well aware of that, but seeing as I received a letter from my father concerning Potter this morning, I thought you might at least be a little curious as to what I have to say."

Hermione studied Draco's face for a moment before deciding that even a small chance that Malfoy was telling the truth was worth it.

"Fine."

Hermione turned and stalked from the hall, Malfoy following quickly behind her.

Hermione led the blond up to the Room of Requirement, choosing a small meeting area for the room to become.

"So…" Hermione broke the silence once they were both seated. Draco shifted uncomfortably in his chair; it was obvious he was unsure how to begin.

"I received a latter from my father this morning," he began. "I doubt you'll believe me. I don't think even I believe me. But I'm not willing to take the chance that these orders are genuine. According to this letter, Potter is with my Lord, and the two of them are putting together a plan to attack and take down Hogwarts. You and I are supposed to discreetly go around the school and gather as many allies as possible and meet with an ambassador by the Forbidden Forest tonight. Or at least, that's what I've been told…"

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "He's all right…"

"Wait, does this all actually make sense to you?" Hermione nodded. "Well, you obviously know something I don't. Fill me in."

"Why do you think you deserve to know anything?"

"Fine, I'll assume by your reaction that these orders are the real deal. If I promise to help you gather some people, then will you tell me?"

Hermione looked thoughtful. "I'll consider it," she decided. "But we need to start right away. Who do you know that already has ties to Voldemort?" Draco started to list off names. "Great. You go contact them. Show them that letter if you need to. I'll make a copy of that letter, chase down some rumors, and hopefully recruit some people from the other houses. Meet me in the Entrance Hall before dinner, and we'll figure out what to do from there." Hermione jumped up and hugged a surprised Draco. "Thank you so much! Finally, things are starting to go right!" Hermione dashed out the door, leaving a stunned Draco behind her, staring at the door with an amused grin on his face.

xxxXXxxx

The Death Eaters kneeled as one when Voldemort walked into the center of the circle they had formed. Voldemort looked at them all with a maniacal grin

"Death Eaters, welcome! Chaos has been released inside Hogwarts! And do you know who we have to thank?" He looked around the circle. "No, you wouldn't guess it, would you. We have Harry Potter to thank for this. He killed Ron Weasley, and caused panic to follow. I thought you all might like to thank him in person."

Harry pulled off his invisibility cloak. A gasp issued from the Death Eaters, followed by whispers and drawn wands. Harry just ignored them all and looked towards Voldemort expectantly.

"Be quiet, all of you! If any of you harm him I will personally crucio you until you can't breath from screaming and die of suffocation."

There was a mumbled "Sorry, my Lord" from the group before silence was restored once more.

"Wormtail, come here!" barked Voldemort. Harry watched as Peter Pettigrew stumbled forward and knelt at Voldemort's feet. "You all know that Wormtail here can turn into a rat, not to mention illegally. Dumbledore now knows this, but it is doubtful that even he would pay attention to just another rodent running around his precious school. You might ask, what does Wormtail being a rat have to do with Hogwarts? Well, I'll tell you.

"There is a resistance being formed within Hogwarts very walls, once again thanks to Mr. Potter here, with the help of one of his mudblood friends."

"Tonight, Wormtail here will sneak into Hogwarts and meet with the girl. At that time, Wormtail will tell her of our plans, the two of them will iron out the last few details, and he will be back here by this time tomorrow night. If their meeting goes well, our plan will be put into action in two days time."

Many cheers and yells filled the silence the end of Voldemort's speech had left.

"Wormtail!" he shouted over the noise, causing everyone to once again become quiet. "I suggest you get moving."

There was a loud pop as Peter bowed, then apparated away.

"Everyone else, dismissed!"

There was another quick series of pops as the group of Death Eaters disappeared. Harry moved over to stand in front of Tom and looked up into his face.

"Do you really think it will work?" Harry questioned, worry obvious in his eyes.

Tom wrapped his arms around Harry and placed a kiss to his forehead.

"Yes, Harry, I do. It'll all be fine."

"I hope so," sighed Harry as he leaned into Tom's embrace.

xxxXXxxx

Draco shifted from foot to foot anxiously. He'd been waiting for Hermione in the Entrance Hall for the past half hour and was beginning to become impatient; they had less than 45 minutes before their contact was scheduled to arrive. He was just starting to think that everything had all been some way to uncover all the student Death Eaters and was about to abort the mission and go to dinner when Hermione came running down the stairs. Draco turned to face her.

"Well, it's about ti-"

But Hermione wasn't slowing down. She grabbed Draco's hand as she ran past him and started dragging him towards the front doors.

"Don't argue. Just run."

Draco ran. Hermione led him outside and didn't stop until they reached the Forbidden Forest.

"Will you _please_ tell me what's going on?" Draco gasped.

Hermione suddenly broke into tears. Only then did Draco realize he was still holding her hand, and so gently pulled her to him. Hermione buried her head in his neck.

"No one would listen to me. They all laughed, or else, if they would have helped, they didn't believe me and threatened to kill me if I said anything. Ginny's the only one who helped at all. She didn't believe me either, but took pity on me and said that if I was telling the truth I'd better get out of the castle quickly 'cause Dumbledore was going to start putting security charms on the doors after nightfall. So I ran, but it's all ruined anyway. Even if you did manage to gather people, they'll set off alarms if they try to leave the castle. This SUCKS!" She pounded a fist on Draco's chest. He just held her tighter and began to rock back and forth slowly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Hermione pulled back and wiped at her eyes with the back of her free hand.

"What?"

"Death Eaters are taught to take orders without question. All of my contacts are already out here, hiding in the forest." He smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. Everything is all set for when our guy arrives."

Hermione pulled him close and took a deep breath. "You're a lifesaver, Draco." They were silent for a moment before appearing to suddenly realize where they were. Hermione jumped back and finally broke the contact between their hands.

"Uh, we, uh, we'd better get ready. They'll be here soon."

"Um, yea…right."

They both moved in among the trees and settled down to wait.

After about ten minutes movement could be heard coming though the trees. Both Draco and Hermione raised their wands. Draco made a noise that sounded oddly like a bird call and suddenly they were surrounded by raised lit wands.

"Stop and identify yourself!" Draco called out.

A man in black robes and mask entered the lit circle. He glanced around once then inclined his head towards Hermione.

"Are you the girl?" the man asked.

"Wormtail??" Hermione gasped.

"I'll take that as a yes…"

Draco turned to stare at Hermione. "How do _you_ know _him_??"

"Third year, long story. Yes, I'm the girl in question."

"Splendid. How many people have you managed to convince to help us?"

Draco motioned around the circle. "The 13 people you see around you, plus me and her."

Wormtail nodded vigorously. "Good, good. Tomorrow evening, while everyone is at dinner, our Lord and his followers will sneak onto the grounds and into the castle. We have come to posses a massive amount of invisibility cloaks, and will spread ourselves throughout the castle…"

Wormtail finished outlining the plan, then left the group alone. Draco turned to Hermione.

"Well, that's over with. Did you happen to find out when this security would be lifted on the doors so we could go back in?"

Hermione paused thoughtfully. "I believe that they work with the sun, so theoretically, they should be lifted at sunrise."

Draco groaned and turned towards the group. "Well, guys, looks like we're out here for tonight. Find a soft piece of ground and get some rest."

While the student Death Eaters started preparing areas for themselves, Draco turned around just in time to catch Hermione wandering out of their gathering area. Draco followed her.

"Hey, you might not want to wander too far…"

Hermione turned to look at him. "Oh, I know. Just looking for some soft ground."

Draco watched her wander for a moment more before sitting down in front of a tree and propping his back against it.

"Come here."

Hermione walked over and stood in front of him. Draco tugged on her hand.

"Sit."

She sat down next to him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her head against his chest.

"Sleep."

Hermione let a smile slip across her face as she settled in for a night with Draco.

xxxXXxxx

Long after the group at Hogwarts had fallen fast asleep by the forest, Wormtail reentered the room that only hours before had been filled with Death Eaters. The room was dark, except for a few torches along the walls, and empty, except for a figure dressed in black standing stiffly by the door. Wormtail bowed to the man, gave his report, then apparated away. The man in black turned and left the room, the firelight glinting off green eyes as he passed.

xxxXXxxx

"Get up! All of you! Yes, I know it's early, but the sun's been up for an hour already, and we need to get back inside! If you don't get your lazy asses up NOW I am going to make them hurt so much you'll never sit down again!"

There was finally movement among the group that had previously been sleeping beside the forest contently. Though even with Draco's threats hanging above them, the group was slow to rise.

"_Incendio!_"

There were a few yells, but everyone was finally up. The group moved back into the castle and stealthily made their ways to their respective common rooms, blending back in with the school by breakfast.

Tom and Harry spent the day with the Death Eaters, preparing for that night, as did Hermione and Draco with the other students at Hogwarts.

6:30 that night found the group of student Death Eaters outside by the forest again, anxiously waiting for their leaders.

At 6:35 a large group of people in cloaks and masks could be seen walking through the forest, led by Harry Potter and Voldemort.

The elder Death Eaters passed out invisibility cloaks, and the group entered the castle. They spread themselves out along the hallways and waited for the students like a tiger would wait for zebras at a watering hole.

Around 7:15 the students began to finish dinner and head towards their respective common rooms. As they moved around the castle invisible Death Eaters were silently stunning them and then casting a spell that would move them to a select location.

It wasn't until around 7:30 that a staff member noticed the students randomly disappearing. Ironically enough it was McGonagall, just out of the hospital wing. She was weak enough that she had barely set off the alarms before she too was stunned and sent to a select location until after the battle.

Their cover being blown, the Death Eaters whipped off their cloaks. All over the castle screams could be heard. The majority of the students had already been taken care off, so it wasn't long until there were only a few staff members and brave remnants of the long forgotten Dumbledore's Army. Duels broke out in the hallways, but eventually the Death Eaters managed to trap their opponents together in a circle in the Entrance Hall. Wand-less and frightened, only Dumbledore stood tall when Voldemort approached.

"What do you want Tom?"

Voldemort smiled "You know, I've always hated it when you called me that. Not sure why. I mean, I don't mind at all when Harry uses it." Voldemort inclined his head at a figure behind Dumbledore.

Dumbledore spun around and came face to face with Harry Potter's wand.

"You've lost, Albus." Voldemort spoke as Harry circled around to stand next to Tom. You've lost your weapon, and along with it, your school.

"What happened? Harry, why?" was all Dumbledore could ask.

"I fell in love. His ways are different than yours, but he never tried to control me. I don't really have any hard feelings for you, sir; you're just sort of in our way of taking over."

Dumbledore bowed his head. "I guess this is it then…"

Unsuspecting, Harry lowered his wand. Suddenly Dumbledore, moving with unknown speed, lunged at Harry and hit him hard on the side of the head with his fist. Deep underground in London, Sibyll Trelawney has a sudden heart attack and died, though no one was around to notice. Harry fell to the floor as Tom yelled out a belated warning before turning his wand on Dumbledore.

"You hurt the only thing in my life worth living for. In my books, that's reason enough for me to take your life. Goodbye old man. _Avada Kedavera!_"

Tom was running towards Harry even before Dumbledore's body had hit the ground. Hermione was already there and had turned Harry over on his back. When Tom reached him he pulled Harry's head into his arms. There was a large indent on the side of Harry's head where he had been hit, and blood was dripping from it.

"Harry. Harry, speak to me!"

Harry opened his eyes and looked at Tom. He tried to speak, but was cut off by unbearable pain and passed out again.

"We have to get him to the hospital wing! Severus, go let the nurse out, tell her she won't be harmed if she helps us. Now, Severus!"

Severus went to go find the nurse as Tom scoped up Harry in his arms and made for the hospital wing. He burst through the door to find that somehow, Severus and Madam Pomfrey had beaten them there. The nurse promptly took over.

"Here, put him on a bed."

Tom laid him down. Madam Pomfrey bustled about, apparently unbothered by the trauma everyone else was experiencing. She cast some charms over Harry, and his color began to return.

"There. I've replaced any blood he's lost, but if there's brain damage, there isn't anything I can do about it. We'll just have to keep him hydrated and wait."

Tom sent orders with Severus to get everything from the battle cleaned up and working again before sitting down next to Harry's bed to wait. A few hours later, Hermione came in, followed by Draco. She took one look at Harry and burst into tears. Draco silently took her in his arms and led her back out the door. It was impossible to tell if Tom had noticed them at all.

Two days passed, Tom leaving Harry's side only to get food and use the bathroom. Late during his second night in the hospital wing, Harry began to stir.

"Ug, where am I…Tom?"

"Harry? Harry! Thank god you're awake!" Tom jumped up and sat on Harry's bed, taking one of Harry's hands in his own. "Pomfrey! Oh, where is that infernal nurse…"

Madam Pomfrey came out and, after a few hours was able to declare that Harry did not have any brain damage, but he should rest for a few more days before she returned to her bed. Throughout the ordeal Tom had refused to release his hold on his lover's hand.

"Tom, what happened?"

Tom tried to speak, but was so overcome with relief that he could do little anything but hold Harry as silent tears of happiness ran down his face.

"I'll tell you in the morning, love. Get some rest."

Harry managed a mumbled "I love you too Tom." Before falling into a deep sleep, ready to awake to a new and better world.

---

** A/N:** The End! It's over! I do hope you all liked it, and I'm terribly sorry that it took me so long to finish here at the end.

Now, I know you're all asking, what kind of ending is that? Whats the world like now? What happened to Hermione/Draco?? And I must say, I wanted to put all of that in, but I simply ran out of time. Therefore, I may add an epilogue if you all want one and I find the time to write it.

But, it's my birthday and I'm late for school. Reviews make me happy! (Espcially since it was the last chapter) Thanks so much for keeping with it, I'd never have finished it without you lovely reviewers.

Until next time,

N.L.


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